Research Design - Phenomenography

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Technological University Dublin Technological University Dublin

ARROW@TU Dublin ARROW@TU Dublin

Other resources School of Civil and Structural Engineering

2018-2

Research Design - Phenomenography Research Design - Phenomenography

Una Beagon

Technological University Dublin, [email protected]

Brian Bowe

Technological University Dublin, [email protected]

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Beagon, U. & Bowe,B. (2018)Research Design - Phenomenography, Create.

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Research Design – Phenomenography

Una Beagon

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Outline

Context to PhD Study Research Questions Research Design Theoretical Perspective Conceptual Framework Research Methodology Phenomenography

Data Collection and Analysis Methods Schedule

Literature Review Feedback

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Working Title:

Teaching Professional skills in Engineering

Programmes: The Academic Perspective

Using phenomenography to explore academic

conceptions of their role in developing professional skills

in engineering students.

Why?

To improve the engineering educational experience to

enhance their professional skills to meet industry and

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The ideal engineering graduate

Professional Skills

Critical thinker

Team player

Good communicator

Self directed learning

Negotiation skills

Leadership

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Influences on curriculum design

Engineering

Academics

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• How do academics understand the term ‘professional skills’ in engineering?

Research Questions

• What are the qualitatively different ways that academics

conceptualise and experience the development of professional skills in engineering programmes in Ireland?

• How do academics manifest their conceptions of teaching

professional skills through their actions in teaching and curriculum design ?

• What is the relationship (if any) between Approaches to Teaching and academics’ background in academia, industry or both?

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“….ontological assumptions (assumptions about the nature of reality and the nature of things)

Theoretical Perspective

give rise to epistemological assumptions (ways of researching and enquiring into the nature of reality and the nature of things);

and these, in turn, give rise to issues of instrumentation and data

collection”

these, in turn, give rise to methodological considerations;

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“….ontological assumptions (assumptions about the nature of reality and the nature of things)

Ontological Assumptions

• Our interaction with the world affects our experience of it. Non dualist.

• We make our own meaning of things, that reality (our individual reality) is constructed by interaction with the world.

• Learning comes from an increased awareness of the different ways of doing something.

• People learn to do things in different ways, some better, some worse.

• Individuals experience all social phenomena in different ways. It is contextual; it depends on our mood at that time, our previous experience of the matter and with what attitude we approach the issue.

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Epistemological Assumptions

epistemological assumptions (ways of researching and enquiring

into the nature of reality and the nature of things);

• I value interpretation

• More important to look at how people interact with the phenomenon, rather than a distanced view of what the phenomenon entails.

• People’s experience of the situation, how they handle it.

• Describe how the person views it, through their eyes, not as an observer on the side, yet still there is interpretation.

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Conceptual Framework

Paradigms

Realism (Objective)

Positivism Post positivsim

Idealism (Subjective) (Interpretivist)

Critical Theory Constructivism

Guba & Lincoln (1994)

Constructivism – knowledge is constructed rather than discovered.

Multiple realities, formed in the human mind as a result of experiential and social constructions (Marton & Saljo, 1976).

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Constructivism versus Constitutionalism

Constructivism

Dualistic Assumption Two separate entities Inner subjective world Outer Subjective Reality

Constitutionalism

Non dualistic Only one entity

Objects and events exist only as they are experienced

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Considering my assumptions, it is with an

interpretivist ontological position and a

constitutional epistemological perspective

that I approach this research study.

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Phenomenography

Phenomenology v’s Phenomenography

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Phenomenography

First proposed by Marton (1981)

“Phenomenography is a research method adapted for

mapping the qualitatively different ways in which people

experience, conceptualise, perceive, and understand various

aspects of, and phenomena in, the world around them”

(Marton, 1986, p.31)

Examples :

• Surface and deep learning (Marton & Säljö, 1976)

• Approaches to Teaching Inventory (Trigwell et al, 2005) • Academics Conceptions of Lecturing (Daniel, 2015)

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Bananas

What do you conceptualise to be a ripe banana?

Colour Blind

Banana ripeness is a function of softness Connoisseur

Banana ripeness is a function of colour, softness, smell and

black dots Biochemist

Colour, softness, smell, no of black dots, pH value

Colour vision

Banana ripeness is a function of colour and black dots

Expanding awareness of banana experience

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Learning

“Learning in terms of changes in or widening of our ways of seeing the world can be understood in terms of discernment, simultaneity and

variation” (Bowden and Marton , 1998).

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Research Design and Methodology

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Phase 1 Survey

Academics teaching on engineering

programmes in Ireland

• Gender and Age

• Qualifications (academic & professional)

• Background Career (engineer or other)

• Industrial Experience

• Academic Experience

• EI Accreditation

• Ranking of skills required to make a good graduate

• Approaches to Teaching Inventory

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Phase 1 Survey

Outcomes

• 273 respondents - 22% female

• 23% undertaken an educational qualification

• 4 out of 5 people have worked in industry

• No evidence to show Industry experience

enhances CCSF (Student Focused) score on ATI

• No evidence to suggest that an educational

qualification enhances CCSF Score

• Females were more likely to score professionals

skills as more important than males.

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Phase 1 Survey

Outcomes

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 -31 -29 -27 -25 -23 -21 -19 -17 -15 -13 -11 -9 -7 -5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 N o o f re sp o n d en ts

ITTF (-ve) Scores and CCSF (+ve) scores

CSSF ITTF

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Phase 2

Phenomenographic Interviews

(15-20)

Methodology & analysis

Trigwell (2000) A phenomenographic interview on phenomenography. Walsh (2000) Phenomenographic analysis of interview transcripts.

Ashworth & Lucas (2000) Achieving empathy and engagement: a practical approach to the design, conduct and reporting of phenomenographic

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Phase 2

Phenomenographic Interviews

Methodology & analysis

NVivo for file management

Bazeley (2009)Analyzing Qualitative Data: More than Identifying themes Braun & Clarke (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology

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Schedule

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Update Research Design

Update Literature Review Confirmation exam

Agree interview questions Pilot interviews Ethical approval Authentic interviews Analysis Write up 2018

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Schedule

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Update Research Design

Update Literature Review Confirmation exam Agree interview questions Pilot interviews Ethical approval Authentic interviews Analysis Write up 2019 2020

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Literature Review topics

• History of Engineering Education (Apprenticeship/Technical/Rebalance) • Current situation

• Influencing factors on curriculum design, Accreditation, National Policies, Institutional policies

• The Skills Gap

• Industry viewpoint • Graduate viewpoint • Academic viewpoint

• Looking to the future

• Global Grand Challenges, new skills requirements • Which skills ? (100 journal paper review)